Today is the first day of summer and that gets some retailers nervous. Shoppers are scarce in the season, so stores are rolling out the sales. In Los Angeles, the grocery store Ralphs is expected to close its doors forever. The store, which is in a low-income neighborhood, has some residents criticizing a disturbing pattern. And how will China's credit crunch be felt abroad? Source: marketplace.org

On this day after Christmas, the retail rush gets its final push with deep discounts for shoppers. Two families, from two different economic backgrounds, talk about how they spent their Christmas. We look back at the year in Washington and its gridlock. Simon Johnson, an economist at MIT, talks about global recessions. Hackers allegedly stole a bunch of credit card data but are promising to give all the money it stea...

The number of Americans with a college education is on the rise, but how do we compare to the rest of the world? Bloomingdale's introduces a loyalty card for its shoppers. We look at the future for minority workers in the postal service as it continues to downsize. The state of Louisiana continues to attract multi-million-dollar film productions thanks to tax credit incentives. And Kai Ryssdal talks to digital market...

Industrial 3D printer maker Stratasys just bought a hot name in the 3D printing consumer market: MakerBot. The pricetag? $403 million in Statasys stock. MakerBot's desktop 3D printers cost about $2,000, while the machines Stratasys makes can cost over half a million. We talk to Stratasys CEO David Reis and MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis to hear what's behind the merger.

Schools in Texas are testing out radio frequency ID, or RFID tags, that allow easy identification and tracking of students. The government pays schools based on the number of students that show up and school officials say that the RFID tags will allow for more accurate tracking of attendance. Also on the show, meet the Usain Boltâ€™s greatest contender -- a robot cheetah.

The country voted this past week. What does President Barack Obama's re-election mean for health care and the fiscal cliff? We also look at the impact of local elections on your personal finance. Plus, America honors its veterans this week. Their biggest burdens aren't just mental or physical -- they're also financial. And in a perfect world, you would only have to pay for the cable channels you actually watch, right...